Pickup basketball. Last Thursday night. There are four of us on the court: my son for whom basketball is the breath of life, two dads with good handles, and me.
I never played when I was young — too many skills to master, and a frame that wasn’t exactly hooper-material. In seventh grade I played rec league and rode the bench. But my team won the league that year, and I’d like to think that my one bucket contributed. Probably not.
Now, my feet still don’t leave the ground together very often, and I scarcely feel my body move on the court in ways that might be described as beautiful, but tonight, as the sun set over the hill to the west, and the cool late May air stilled, I called a three-pointer that ended the game and the evening. Straight on. Nothing but net. And for a moment, I felt beautiful and somehow, young.
If you don’t believe me, I had witnesses.
Locals are welcome to join us Tuesday and Thursday nights through August at 7 p.m., Denison’s outdoor courts near the Mitchell Center. All ages welcome. We like to play 3 v 3, keep teams fair, and I’ll warn you, Brandon McCoy might block you every once in a while, just to keep you honest.
Have a Bright Spot to share? Send it to Managing Editor Julia Lerner (lernerj@denison.edu). Tell us about the moment that made you smile in under 200 words, and try to include a photograph. We’ll add it to our growing list of Bright Spots on TheReportingProject.org!